"As of late Thursday, Ankara, a NATO ally, hadn't cleared any U.S. naval vessels to steam to Georgia through the Bosporus and the Dardanelles, the narrow straits that connect the Mediterranean and the Black Seas, the officials said. Under the 1936 Montreaux Convention, countries must notify Turkey before sending warships through the straits.

"Pentagon officials told McClatchy that they were increasingly dubious that any U.S. Navy vessels would join the aid operation, in large part because the U.S.-based hospital ships likely to go, the USNS Comfort and the USNS Mercy, would take weeks to arrive.

" 'The president was writing checks to the Georgians without knowing what he had in the bank,' said a senior administration official.

" 'The president got out in front of the planning when he talked publicly about using naval forces,' said a second senior administration official. 'At that point we need to look at treaty obligations, our bilateral relations with the Turks and others, waterway restrictions and what kind of ships might be appropriate and usable” something like the Comfort or something already in the Med (Mediterranean).'

"Turkey also may be reluctant to jeopardize the $24 billion in annual trade it does with Russia, which provides around 70 percent of its natural gas supplies. The Turkish Navy also shares the Black Sea with Russia's powerful Black Sea Fleet, which in part has prompted Ankara in recent years to restrict U.S. and NATO naval operations and exercises there.

"The current situation echoes the 2003 U.S. invasion of Iraq, when the Bush administration tried to send thousands of U.S. troops into northern Iraq through Turkey ”a Muslim nation where most people opposed the war” without first obtaining Ankara's permission.

"The Turkish parliament refused to allow the United States to use its territory."

All this stumbling and bumbling from the criminal Bush regime that brought us the pre-emptive, illegal invasion and occupation of Iraq (now in its fifth year) based on lies.